Palace Invasion

"I think that we should go public," said Leo.

"With what?" queried Janelle, her eyes widening.

"With us. As friends."

Just saying that last part caused pain in his heart. "I have changed, but your father refused to believe it. Maybe now that I have risen from the dead, surely he will believe me."

Without giving her a chance to reply, Leo got up and walked towards the window. He looked at Janelle.

"Word has already spread of my return. Apparently, I have returned from the dead. As you can imagine, that would change a man."

He gave her a bow, causing all of his hair to fall onto his face. He pushed it back and with rehearsed grace, climbed the window sill. He looked out of the open window, expecting to see the Moon.

Ithreal usually saw the moon every night, regardless of the season, so what Leo saw now could only mean one thing. The only times he had ever witnessed a night without the moon, something bad would happen, and it would change the lives of everyone. As he looked at the kingdom, which was now shrouded in darkness, he could not help but worry. He leapt out of Janelle's room, hitting the ground hard. He landed with a jarring impact and began sprinting through the city.

Leo's entire body felt cold. He knew that it wasn't because of the temperature of his surroundings, which only motivated him to run faster. Leo ran as fast as he could, but he felt that the palace was not getting any closer. There were two things on his mind as he ran. One, the last thing he ever did with his father was hit him. Two, Alistair had never explained why he had thanked Leo for the death of Hikard.

The closer Leo got to the palace, the more dread he felt. There was a large wall in front of him. Before it lay a crate. He hopped onto the crate and pull himself onto the wall. He walked along the wall, towards the right, where a rooftop resided. He climbed onto it with ease and looked towards the palace. The only light he could see were the windows, but even they were slightly obstructed by a black smoke. The entire palace was radiating with evil energy.

Leo began to run again, this time on the rooftops of Therston, causing mass confusion in the homes on which we walked. After a few minutes, Leo was at the palace gates. The sight that awaited him was something that no person should have to see. There were usually two guards who guarded the gate. The second one was nowhere to be seen. The first, however, greeted Leo in a most brutal fashion. His severed head lay impaled on one of the gate spikes, blood snaking down the gate in an intricate river of red.

Leo felt the bile rising in his throat. Who would be capable of performing such a murder? He ran into the palace. At the entrance, he found what remained of the second guard. He lay with his belly open, his entrails leading inside. With his resolved strengthened, Leo walked into the ornate palace. He wondered what had happened to the other guards. The palace usually had security all over. In the courtyard, just inside the gate, in the palace entrance, and more.

Just past the palace entrance, there was a stairwell, with the stairs winding around the middle. The stairs were made of marble and were incredibly slippery when wet. The stairs were wet now, coated in the red fluid that kept humans alive. Leo knew he was on the right track. After some deliberation, he decided to go fetch the sword of the guard who lay by the palace doors.

He walked quietly towards the dead guard, only to find that the knife he had was indeed not a sword. Leo took it anyway. It was a kukri knife. The second he had ever seen in his life time. He crept back towards the stairs and quietly walked up them. As he neared the first-floor landing, which branched off into the wall that surrounded the stairwell, he dropped into a crouch. Leo peeked around the corner of the wall.

There were two bandits keeping watch. With them, stood three demons that looked like toads, but stood like humans. They had a slouch and their brown skin was covered in blood. Around them lay two dead guards, who were clearly eaten by the toad demons. From the toads' demeanour, Leo was able to ascertain that they were serving the bandits.

Leo sensed an opportunity and took it. He slid the kukri into his shirtsleeve. He was going to hate getting blood on his new waistcoat. He stood up, and walked into the corridor, with his hands up in surrender. The toads began walking up to him but were stopped by the bandits.

They began walking towards Leo. The first one drew a pair of shackles.

"Unlike your father, I am sure you will live," snickered the second.

The toads were quite a distance back, most likely in fear of the bandits. Leo put his hands behind his back, as if he were ready to be shackled. He let the kukri slide down his right sleeve into the respective hand.

"Just like your leader, I am sure you will not live," he declared.

The first bandit stopped in confusion. He opened his mouth to speak, but it was immediately filled with the blade of Leo's kukri. Leo drew the blade back and threw it at the second bandit. The kukri embedded itself in his left eye, causing almost instantaneous death. Leo got to him before he dropped and took the blade out.

The first bandit was still choking on the ground, but Leo ignored him. The toads were bumbling towards him in an awkward shamble. He drew a ball of darkness into his left hand and ignited it, which made the toads slow down. Leo let the shadows disperse, killing the flame, and ran to the toads, so that he could take advantage of their confusion. He slid between the legs of the middle one, slicing the tendons in its left leg. It dropped to its knee, and Leo drove the blade into its head.

He kicked the toad on his right, pushing it back. Leo soon discovered that his blade was stuck in the toad's head. He gave up on it and grabbed the shadows once again. He sharpened them into blades of darkness, but kept them thin as paper. Wielding the darkness as if it were his own weapon, he decapitated the demons, watching in satisfaction as their heads hit the ground. A black liquid spewed from their necks, demon blood staining Leo's clothes.

He looked towards his kukri and with some effort, manage to pull it out of the toad's head. He ran down the corridor, following the trail of blood. It began to fade after a while, but he managed to follow it towards the library door. On the other side, Leo could hear the sound of a female voice.

"Oh Alston," it said. "What shall we do with you?"